Stephen Bainbridge's Journal of Law, Religion, Politics, and Culture

10/24/2012

The Iowa Law anti-conservative lawsuit and the most underrepresented minority on law faculties

Former University of Iowa legal writing instructor Teresa Wagner is suing the Iowa law school, claiming that she was denied a permanent position "because of her legal work against abortion rights" and general conservative views (see HuffPo):

Wagner says the opposition to her was led by professor Randall Bezanson, a law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun when he wrote the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973 – an opinion Wagner spent her earlier career opposing. She says 46 of 50 faculty members who considered her appointment were Democrats, while one was Republican. Wagner will offer as evidence an e-mail from a school official who backed her candidacy warning the dean that some opposed her "because they so despise her politics (and especially her activism about it)."

Although I maintain that courts shouldn't second guess faculty hiring decisions, the stench coming out of Iowa is getting more and more nauseating.

What makes htis case especially poignant is that my liberal law school collagues are always talking asbout how we need to hire more underrepresented minorities. Fair enough. But do you know what the most underrepresented minority is on law school faculties? It's almost certainly pro-life female Republicans.

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The Iowa Law anti-conservative lawsuit and the most underrepresented minority on law faculties

Former University of Iowa legal writing instructor Teresa Wagner is suing the Iowa law school, claiming that she was denied a permanent position "because of her legal work against abortion rights" and general conservative views (see HuffPo):

Wagner says the opposition to her was led by professor Randall Bezanson, a law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun when he wrote the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973 – an opinion Wagner spent her earlier career opposing. She says 46 of 50 faculty members who considered her appointment were Democrats, while one was Republican. Wagner will offer as evidence an e-mail from a school official who backed her candidacy warning the dean that some opposed her "because they so despise her politics (and especially her activism about it)."

Although I maintain that courts shouldn't second guess faculty hiring decisions, the stench coming out of Iowa is getting more and more nauseating.

What makes htis case especially poignant is that my liberal law school collagues are always talking asbout how we need to hire more underrepresented minorities. Fair enough. But do you know what the most underrepresented minority is on law school faculties? It's almost certainly pro-life female Republicans.